


Zombies Run Secret Santa 2019 - Five/Janine flavored

by puptart



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: 2nd person POV, Being Janine's partner is my Christmas wish, Christmas, Other, Paula's not a marriage counselor, Runner Five's Gender Is Up To You My Guy, Santa if ur listening-, are there ANY therapists left in the apocalypse?, season five spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21938770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puptart/pseuds/puptart
Summary: **SEASON FIVE SPOILERS**Janine's been avoiding Five like the plague since they've returned to Noah Base.
Relationships: Janine De Luca/Runner Five
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	Zombies Run Secret Santa 2019 - Five/Janine flavored

**Author's Note:**

  * For [runnerzero](https://archiveofourown.org/users/runnerzero/gifts).



> Merry Christmas to my Secret Santa gift recipient: runnerzero! I was so excited to get you this year! Thanks for putting on such a fun event, and I hope you enjoy!

You died three days ago. 

Not really, but as far as everyone who knew at the time (including yourself), you’d gotten bitten by a zombie, and shortly thereafter, died. Even the damn ghost of Moonchild in your brain had gone on and on about it the whole time. Honestly, you’re glad you lived, if only to stop her moaning. 

Noah Base had welcomed you back with open arms, lots of hugs, and quite a few tears. Mostly Sam’s tears. 

Janine had shaken your hand.

You love that woman with every fibre of your being, but somehow even a year into a relationship with her and you’re still dumbfounded by the things she does. Honestly, after all the worry and fuss about getting you out of Abel after realizing you _weren’t_ dead, kowtowing to Amelia’s demands even, and the best she can do when you actually show up is shake your hand? Like you’re old pals catching up after uni?

Afterwards she had come up with an excuse to leave, and then practically became a ghost in the base. At least she hasn’t just been avoiding you though, everyone else has made note of her absence as well. 

After three days of this, you find yourself pouting in the kitchen, while Paula pretends to read a book at the table. You aren’t hungry, or thirsty, or anything really, but you open cabinets and look inside anyways. Maybe you’ll find your bloody girlfriend in one of them, who knows!

Paula clucks as you run out of cabinets and just start over again. 

“Are you two ever going to talk about it?” she asks. Neither of you has said a word to the other this whole time, but there’s no question of who she’s talking about.

“When could I possibly have had a chance, when she’s holed herself up in her room since I got back?”

“Have you tried knocking?” Paula asks. You pretend to be busy looking for something in the cabinets, but you can feel how unimpressed she is. “Honestly. It’s a wonder you two ever managed to get together in the first place. How did that even go? Was there a business contract involved?”

You grimace, cheeks burning. “It was quite impassioned actually, thanks.”

She laughs. “C’mon, Five. I’m just teasing… But you really should go and talk to her.”

“Do you think it’ll help?” you ask. You turn to look at her, suddenly realizing the wobble in your stomach is anxiety. It’s been months since you and Janine had gotten together, sure, and you’ve dealt with tons of issues inside and outside of your relationship together, but… You don’t know how to handle her pretending you don’t exist. 

Paula puts her book down and leans forward. “I do. Look, I know I’m hardly a marriage counselor, but…”

“Most of those got eaten in the apocalypse and you’re the best I’ve got?” you offer. Then you blink. “Also, Janine and I aren’t married.”

“Yet.”

“What?!”

“I’m not a marriage counselor,” Paula continues guilessly, “but me and Maxie did see one a few times before the apocalypse. It helped, a lot. And what the counselor told us most often was just to think about how we feel, express that to one another, _listen_ , and then talk about it. Even when there wasn’t a problem to be solved per se, it’s good to just hear and be heard by your partner.”

You huff. “And why aren’t you having this conversation with Janine? _She’s_ the one who’s-”

“Ah ah, that was another thing,” Paula interrupts. “Don’t see her as an adversary. She’s not hiding away to punish you. Some people do that, sure, but not Janine. C’mon. Why do you think she’s avoiding you?”

Chewing your lip, you think. “Because I kinda died and she was scared?”

“And?”

“...And she’s already lost a partner?” You cringe a little. “The same partner twice. After being betrayed. Yeah, I’m seeing how me being under Van Ark’s wife’s thumb and then ‘dying’ might’ve caused an issue here.”

Paula just nods, a soft look on her face. “Talk to her, Five. She needs you.”

It used to be such an odd thought that Janine might need _you_ of all people. She’s not a pillar though. She needs support too. 

You sigh, then say, “Okay. But I’m taking ammunition with me.”

So you set about making up some hot chocolate, which you _know_ is a weakness of hers. She’d die before admitting it, but you know. If only you could get your hands on a bag of marshmallows, that would really do it. She’d propose on the spot, you bet. Or else kick you out and stuff her face without sharing.

Within a few minutes you’ve got your bribe, and you nod to Paula as you leave the kitchen, intent on your target. 

There’s laughter in the rec room as you approach down the corridor. It echoes through the open doors, bouncing along the concrete walls of Noah Base. Someone’s playing bits and pieces of Christmas carols on the piano, as someone else demands the wine be passed around again.

Even in the worst of times, your little family manages to find something worth celebrating. Christmas is as good an excuse to cheer everyone up as any, you suppose. You’d admittedly hoped with all the (somewhat forced) cheer, Janine would’ve come out on her own. No such luck. If you’d thought about it at all though, you’d have realized the party would only convince her to tuck more tightly into her little turtle shell than before.

Quietly, you sneak past the festivities, steaming mugs of hot cocoa in hand as you go, hoping no one spots you. Much as you’d like to join in, you have a mission. There’s more people at Noah Base than before, so your absence from the party shouldn’t be too glaring.

You make your way down the corridor, the sounds of merriment fading behind you until it’s nothing more than a cheerful murmur. At the end, you turn left and walk until you find yourself in front of the one door in the whole base with five locks that weren’t there before you all arrived.

You knock lightly. No answer.

You knock harder. No answer.

You kick the door. No answer.

“Alright then,” you mutter to yourself, setting your jaw. If that’s how she wants to play it.

It takes a good solid three minutes of knocking before Janine finally wrenches it open, a sour twist to her mouth. Her gaze drops to the mugs in your hand, then back to your face, and for a moment you think she’s going to slam the door in your face. Perhaps Paula missed the mark on this one.

“Come in,” she says sharply, turning on her heel, leaving the door open for you. You step in, and kick the door shut. She sits down stiffly at her desk, not unlike you imagine someone with a rod stuffed somewhere uncomfortable would. 

“It’s Christmas Eve,” you say, setting a mug of hot cocoa in front of her. Janine frowns.

“So it is.”

“Everyone else is doing a gift exchange,” you say.

“So. They. Are.”

“We could-”

“Absolutely not.”

“What, you don’t want the tin of beans I found yesterday?” you ask. 

Janine spares you a withering look before turning back to her notebook. It’s about 50% neat, precise handwriting, and 50% dark scrawls of ink scratching out previous writing. Whatever she’s working on, it’s giving her a hard time, clearly. It makes her attitude feel about as serious as a toddler throwing a tantrum in a shop over sweets.

“You must forgive me if I don’t feel much in the mood to celebrate, Runner Five,” she says, and though she still says it clipped and sharp, it doesn’t sting. You sip from your mug. 

“We could celebrate the fact that I’m not a zombie,” you offer. Janine’s pen snaps in her grasp, dark ink bleeding out over her hand. “Janine!”

“You make such _ill-timed_ and _unwanted_ jokes, Runner Five,” she grits out, dropping the broken fragments of plastic before casting her gaze around. You set your mug down, then snatch up a dirty rag from her tool bag and hand it to her. She wipes her hand clean with jerky motions. You stare intently for a long moment, to make sure she hasn’t cut herself, but no red stains the rag. 

“Janine, we _should_ talk about it. You’ve been acting like I don’t exist since I got back, and we’ve talked about isolating yourself like this.” You risk reaching out the grab her shoulder, and she stiffens at the touch, but doesn’t shake you off. “Janine.”

“My lack of foresight almost got you brutally executed. For an audience. I hardly deserve to seek comfort from _you_ while you are recuperating.”

With a sigh, you shake your head. This woman. Here you were worried she was _angry_ with you for being captured. As if you could ever want or need to be anywhere but by her side.

“Janine, being with you is all I really want to help me ‘recuperate’.” You try to catch her eye, but she just stares steadfastly down at the notebook, smeared in ink. Whatever she’d been writing, it’s ruined now. She doesn’t really seem to care. You know she’s listening to you though, so you continue, “Besides that, what Sigrid did is not your fault. None of what Sigrid has done or will do is your fault. It’s hers. That’s why I’m going to shoot _her_ in the face and not you.”

It startles a laugh out of her, but she still doesn’t look at you, not until you slide your fingers beneath her chin and carefully tug it towards you. Her eyes meet yours, soft and vulnerable. She leans into your touch, a hand covering yours.

“You must be so tired of assuring me that everything isn’t my fault,” she says. You notice then the dark bruises under her eyes, and the tired slope of her shoulders. Sam told you she’d barely slept at all while you were playing double agent, and you believe it.

“Not at all,” you tell her. She makes a startled noise when you lean down and kiss her. 

Her mouth is stiff as the rest of her at first, but then she relaxes all over. Warmth floods you, heart pounding as she kisses you back. It feels like getting your first gulp of air after being underwater a little too long. You press closer, and she wraps her arms around your middle, tugging until you clumsily find yourself in her lap. Neither of you stops kissing. It’s time to make up for all the time you couldn’t kiss her, right now.

“I love you,” she sighs when you finally do part God knows how long later. You’re both breathless and flushed, and you doubt your ability to unstick yourself from her. “I… do not want to lose you. Never again.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise.” You kiss her again on the mouth, then on the jaw, adding a kiss on your way to her ear. 

“Runner Five,” she says warningly. “Runner Five this is not the- ah-”

She’s got a weak spot for her ears being kissed, and you’ve got a weak spot for the noises she makes when you kiss her ears. It’s _adorable_ , though she’d strangle you for saying it. You decide to take mercy on her for the moment though. Pulling back, you tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. There’s always later, after all. 

“No funny business then,” you say with a smirk. “But we _should_ relax a little. It’s Christmas Eve after all.”

Janine tuts, then with a sigh, she says, “...Perhaps we could join the festivities for a few moments.”

You blink in surprise, a grin growing on your face. “Really?”

At best you’d been thinking you’d get to wear a Santa hat while fooling around. Which is also good, but you’d like to spend a little time with your family as well. There’s always _after_ the party.

“Really,” Janine says with a fond shake of her head. “I might know what Mr. Yao has gotten for Ms. Marsh.”

“Everyone knows what Sam got her.” You roll your eyes. The big old gossip, you’d hardly be surprised if he’s told _Jody_ what he got her. 

Janine pouts. “Well, do you know what Dr. Myers has gotten for Mr. Lynn?”

“That I don’t know,” you admit readily. Maxine’s sneakier. Janine smile slyly.

“I’ve figured out everyone’s gifts to one another,” she says proudly. “I’ll whisper them in your ear as they do the exchange.”

You shiver, enjoying the idea of that very much. 


End file.
